Cormier On Becoming Beloved By Fans

Cormier, who grew used to being booed by fans, has been getting a lot of positivity, including a standing ovation at the UFC 25th anniversary press conference.

“I don’t know what I did,” Cormier said during a media tour promoting The Ultimate Fighter 27 on Tuesday. “I didn’t really do anything. I did the exact same thing. They decide when they like you and when they don’t.”

“When I went out there that first time and they booed me with Jon [Jones], I just played the bad guy,” Cormier said

. “I will say all the stuff you hate me saying. You hate that I make fun of [Jon Jones] for his addictions? I will say every one of those addictions and I’ll list them all out. Before it was like, I don’t think they’ll boo me for it. Okay, you’ll boo me for it? You don’t like that? I’d kind of feel out what people liked and didn’t like. And the things I got the most hate, on Twitter, I would start to say it in public. If you want me to be your bad guy, I’ll be your bad guy. I just kind of gauge it.”

Cormier knows he played up the antagonist role against rival Jon Jones, but knows he can’t play up a feud with heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, his UFC 226 opponent and coaches against on TUF 27.

“If it’s not genuine, people can see through that,” Cormier said.

“If I start putting on that I hate Stipe Miocic, after going to Cleveland and doing a show on him and being around him and being friends with him, all of a sudden I hate him, people will be like ‘what, that makes no sense.’ That might actually turn people off from watching the fight, ‘this is too fake I can’t deal with it.’ I want to give a true accounting of what I am and what Stipe and I’s relationship truly is.”

“You’re never going to tell people how to feel,” Cormier said. “I used to try to do that. If you told me there’s something you don’t like, I’m going to harp on that thing. I want a reaction. Whether it is positive or negative, I just want you to not be indifferent. As long as you care, that’s good.”